Trouser pocket structure



y 1952 H. BUELOW TROUSER POCKET STRUCTURE File'dDec.

INVENTOR. M10

Patented May 13, 1952 I UNITED STATES PAT ENT' F FI'CE.

TROUSER" ROCKET STRUCTUREv Herman Buclow; Chicago, Ill.

Application December 16, 1949, Serial No. 133,347

(Cl. lie-327) 10. Claims.

1. My invention relatestd clothing; andincludcs. amongits objects: and: advantages. improved neat;- ness:v and effectiveness; in; the construction 051 a pocket. of the general type: common in mens: trousers In theaccompanying drawings,

Figure 1. is: aperspective of the; upper portion: of a. garment. according. to the invention. as it would appear when worn;

Figure 2 is aside elevation of the pocket portion in fiatcondi-tion Figure 3-is asection on line 3--3:of Figure 2:; and

Figure. 4- is an enlarged section of thescams in the center of'Fi-gure 3a In the embodiment of the invention selected for illustration; the-trousersincl-ude a conventionarmai-n body portion W provided with acorn ventional fly opening" at t2, and straps H and tubular sections li for receiving aconventional belt H.

The mounting of thebeltloops- M and I6 is intended to be conventional and, per se; forms no part or my invention; The loops are-illustrated as they would appear in elevation in Figures- 1- and 2-,if the endsof the short loops l4 and the: upper and lower edges of the long loops I6 extended around the adjacent upper and lower edges or the belt band 22, with the extending portions stitched to the inside-of the belt band.

As illustrated in greater detailin Figures '2} and 3; about midwayon each side I slit the bodyportion at from apoin-tjust below the belt band 22 clown a predetermined distance andclose the lower end of the slit with a stitched-tack 24. The belt band 22 is stitched to orotherwiseintegmlly' united with the mainbody portion I 0 except adjacent; the'slit 20; where it is separated forabout'two inches on either side of the-vertical" line of theslit to define-triangular portions comprising a rearportion Z-Gand afront portion 283 which, whn-theiradjacent vertical edges are notfastenedtogether, as by means of zipper claws 3-0 and a. conventional slide 32 for closing.

These. openings, 25. and 21." are enclosed by a pocket structure comprising an inside wall made up. of a. rear portion 34 and, a. front, portion 36, united by a vertical seam at68 and stitched along its upper edge. to the lower edge of the beltband 2.2-. The. portion 34 extends rearwardly to the rear edge 38., whereit. is folded back and extends forward again to define. the rear half; 40- of the outer wall of the pocket structure. Similarly, the. portion. 36. is. folded back at 32 and. continued as. a front wall portion 44.. The front wall portions 4,0 and 4,4 extend. back to the vertical line of the zippers. 30.. The. seam along this vertical slitis. illustrated. in detail'inFigure 4;. The zipper elements are assembled with a rear fasteningtape 4.5 and a. front fastening tape 48:. The packet; wall portion .40.: extends forward to the. seam. line and has a turned-back edge at 5.0. In contact. with thisturned-back edge is the edge of the flap 26, which is also turned back and wrapped around the. pocket. wall at 52. The area of the flap 26 that. tends to be. exposed by turning the flap back is covered by an underfacing 54 which is stitched to the. portion at 5.6 remote from, the seam and turned back and stitched into the finished seamat 58.. It is convenient to fasten the flap 2.6. and wall portion 40 by a line of stitching at the point indicated by the reference, character 60 to hold them in place. while the turned-back portions 50 and 52 are juxtaposed with the tape strip 46 and fastened by a. line of stitching at 62, after which the stitchin at 6.01 is removed and therefore is not illustrated in the drawing of the finished structure. Then the underfacing 54. is attached at 56 and put in position at 5.8,, and the. entire seam is completed by two lines of stitching, at 54. The. front. seam,.assemb1ed with the tape 48, is. identical inv construction with the rear seam, including the edge. of the front underfacing 66, which extends throughout the flap 2%. A convenient contour for the underfacings 54 and GB is. indicated in dotted lines in Figure 2.

At the inner. wall 01 the. pocket, the pocket wall portions 34 and 35 are united by a vertical seam at. A rear facing Ill and a front facing 12 have their remote. edges attached. to. the wall portions 34 and 36- as indicated at. 14 for the rear facing 10. The verticalv edges of these facing. portions are united by. a vertical. seam at, T6. In. assembling. this portion of the pocket, one of the seams at I4 is. sewed first. Then the seam at [6 is sewed. Then the seam.68 is sewed. Then the other seam i4 is sewed, to complete the assembly.

the contour indicated at 89 in Figure 2, which 7 bottoms at a higher level than the side pocket,-

to avoid having the contents stick down far enough to get in the way -when the wearer sits down. 7

It will be apparent that the belt structure 22 forms a bridge across the upwardly opening slit that is present when the zipper is closed, and the same bridge carries the normal tension in the garment with the zipper closed or open. With the zipper closed, this slit is about four inches long, and because the contact with the wearers body maintains material tension along the belt, it will remain rather tightly closed, with any bulge due to the presence of material in the pockets, occurring below that level. Furthermore, when the wearer sits or even lies down,

there is substantially no opportunity for the contents of any of the pockets to fall out of the.

' pockets, evenif the wearer rolls over and over on the ground. It is notorious that the contents of a conventional side pocket in a mans trousers are quite easily lost in this way. In ordinary standing and sitting positions, the garment, even with a good deal of material inserted in one or both pockets, presents a neat closed external appearance, compared with the bulged open condition of a hip pocket that is filled with some bulky object, and the still more bulged opening of a similarly distended side pocket. In fact, such bulging in the side pocket need only stretch the material a little to have the opening of the side pocket bag open even when there is littl or nothing in the pocket.

Others may readily adapt this invention for use under various conditions of service by employing one or more of the novel features disclosed, or equivalents thereof. It will be obvious that the invention is not necessarily limited to nether garments, or to mens garments. For instance, a household apron might have such a pocket structure in the middle of the front. As at present advised with respect to the apparent scope of my invention, I desire to claim the following subject matter:

1. A nether garment comprising, in combination, a main body portion for encircling the body, at least from the waist down; said main body portion having a slit at each side midway between front and back, said slit running downwardly about six inches from a predetermined level just below the waistline; manually operable, fastening means for opening and closing said slit, in the nature of a zipper sliding up from the bottom of said slit to close it; a bridging belt portion about four inches long above said slit and adjacent its upper end for carrying the horizontal tension in the garment material above the slit when the slit is open; permanent fastening means fastening said bridging portion to said main portion at points spaced forwardly and rearwardly from said slit; whereby opening said Slit liberates foldable triangular corner areas of said main portion, which may be displaced to admit a hand; an inner pocket wall extending down from said bridging portion and defining a pocket space extending forwardly and rearwardly beyond said bridging portion; fastening means in the nature of a horizontal line of stitching, permanently fastening the upper edge of said inner pocket wall to said bridging portion and to said body beyond the ends of said bridging portion; fastening means attaching said inner wall to said main portion'along a line extending down from the bottom of said slit, to subdivide the pocket into a front recess and a rear recess;

andclosure means other than said main portion, engaging the periphery of said inner pocket wall to close both recesses, except for access through said slit; said closure means being an intermediate wall extending back from the periphery of said inner wall and united to said main portion along lines adjacent said slit; a facing on the inner wall of said recesses, of the same material as said main portion and covering the area exposed when said foldable areas are folded back; and an underfacing on the outer wall of said recess covering at least the inwardly facing sides of said foldable corner areas; said body portion having a conventional fiy opening in the middle of the front.

2. A nether garment comprising, in combination: a main body portion for encircling the body, at least from the waist down; said main body portion having a slit at each side midway between front and back, said slit running down- 7 wardly from a predetermined 1evel just below the waistline; manually operable fastening means for opening and closing said slit, in the nature of a zip er sliding up from the bottom of said slit to close it; a bridging belt portion above said slit and adjacent its upper end'for carrying the horizontal tension in the garment material above the slit when the slit is open; permanent fastening means for fastening said bridging portion to said main portion at points spaced forwardly and rearwardly from said slit; whereby opening said slit liberates foldable triangular corner areas of I said main portion, which may be displaced to admit a hand; an inner pocket wall extending down from said bridging portion and defining a pocket space extending forwardly and rearwardly beyond said bridging portion; fastening means in the nature of a horizontalline of stitching, permanently fastening. the upper edge of said inner pocket wall to said bridging portion and to said body beyond the ends of said bridging portion; fastening means attaching said inner wall to said main portion along a line extending down from the bottom of said slit, to subdivide the pocket into a front recess and a rear recess; and closure means other than said main portion, engaging the periphery of said inner pocket wall to close both recesses, except for access through said slit; said closure means being an'intermediate wall extending back from the periphery of said inner wall and united to said main portion along lines adjacent said slit; a facing on the inner wall of said recesses, of the same material as said main portion and covering the area exposed when said foldable areas are folded back; and an underfacing on'the outer wall of said recess covering at leastthe inwardly facing sides of said foldable corner areas. '3. A nether garment comprising, in combination: a main body portion for encircling the body, at least from the waist down; said main body portion having a slit at each side midwaytbetween front and back, said slit running down wardly from a predetermined level just below the waistline; manually operable fastening means for opening and closing said slit, in the nature of azipper sliding-up from the bottomof said slit to close it; a bridgingbelt portion above said slit and adjacentits upperendforcarrying the horizontal tension in the garment-material above the slit when the/slit is open; permanent fastening means fasteningisaid bridging portion to said main portion at points spaced forwardly and rearwardly -from saidfslit; whereby opening said slit liberates foldable triangular corner-areas of said main portion, whichmay be displaced to admit a hand; an inner pocket'wall extending down from said bridging portion and defining a pocket space extending forwardly and rearwardly beyond said bridging portion; fastening means inthe nature of a horizontal line of stitching, permanently fasteningthe upper edge of said inner pocket wall to said bridging portion and to said body beyond the ends of said bridging portion; fastening means attaching said inner wall to said main portion along a line extending down from the bottom of saidslitfto subdivide the pocket into a front recess and :a rear recess; and closure means other than said :main portion, ongaging the periphery of said inner pocket wall to close both recesses, except for access through said slit; said closure means beingan intermediate wall extending back from the periphery of said inner wall and united to saidmain portionalong lines adjacent said slit.

4-. A nether garment comprising, in combination: a main body portion for encircling the body, at least from the waist down; said main body portion having a slit at each side midway between front and back, said slit running downwardly, from a predetermined level just below the waistline; manually operable fastening means for opening and closing said slit, in the nature of a zipper sliding up from the bottom of said slit to close it; a bridging belt portion above said slit and adjacent its upper end for carrying the horizontal tension in the garment material above the slit when the slit is open; permanent fastening means fastening said bridging portion to said main portion points spaced forwardly and rearwardly from said slit; whereby opening said slit liberates foldable triangular corner areas of said main portion, which may be displaced to admit a hand; an inner pocket wall extending down from said bridging portion and defining a pocket space extending forwardly and rearwardly b yond said bridging portion; fastening means in the nature of a horizontal line of stitching, Dermanently fastening the upper edge of said inner pocket wall to said bridging portion and to said body beyond the ends of said bridging portion; and closure means other than said main portion, engaging the periphery of said inner pocket wall to close pocket space, except for access through said slit; said closure means being an intermediate wall extending back from the periphery of said inner wall and united to said main portion along lines adjacent said slit.

5. A garment comprising, in combination: a main body portion for encircling the body; said main body portion having a slit at each side midway between the front and back, said slit running downward from a predetermined level; manually operable fastening means for opening and closing said slit, in the nature of a zipper sliding up from the bottom of said slit to close it; a bridging portion above said slit and adjacent 6. its upper end; permanent fastening means fastening said bridging portion to; said main portion at points spaced forwardly and rearwardly from said slit; whereby opening said slit liberates foldable corner areas of said main portion, which may be displaced to admit a. hand; an inner pocket wall extending down from said bridging portion .to define a recess between itself and said main portion; and closure means other than said main portion, engaging the, periphery of said inner pocket wall to close said recess, except for access through said slit; said closure means being an intermediate wall extending back from the periphery of saidinner wall and united to said main ,portion alonglines adjacent said slit; 'a facing on the inner wallof said recess, covering thearea exposed' when said corner areas-are folded back; and an underfacing on the outer wall of said recess coveringat least the inwardly facingrsides of said foldable corner areas.

6. A garment comprising, in combination: a main body portion for encirclin the body; said main body portion having a slit at each side midway between front and back, saidslitrunning downward from a predetermined level; manually operable fastening means for opening and closing said slit, in the nature of a zipper sliding up from the bottom of said slit to close it; a bridging portion above said slit and adjacent its upper end; permanent fastening means fastening said bridging portion to said :main portion at points spaced forwardly and rearwardly from said slit; whereby opening said slit liberates foldable corner areas of said main portion, which may be displaced to admit a hand; an inner pocket wall extending down from said bridging portion to define a recess between itself and said main portion; and closure means other than said main portion, engaging the periphery of said inner pocket wall to close said recess, except for access through said slit; said closure means being an intermediate wall extending back from the periphery of said inner wall and united to said main portion along lines adjacent said slit.

7. A garment comprising, in combination: a main body portion; said main body portion having a vertical slit running downward from a predetermined point; manually operable fastening means for opening and closing said slit, in the nature of a zipper sliding up from the bottom of said slit to close it; a bridging portion above said slit and adjacent its upper end for holding the garment shape when the slit is open; permanent fastening means fastening said bridging portion to said main portion at points spaced horizontally in both directions from said slit; whereby opening said slit liberates foldable corner areas of said main portion, which may be displaced to admit a hand; an inner pocket wall extending down from said bridging portion and forming with the main body portion a recess at both sides of the slit; and closure means other than said main portion, engaging the periphery of said inner pocket wall to close both recesses, except for access through said slit; said closure means being an intermediate wall extending back from the periphery of said inner wall and united to said main portion along lines adjacent said slit.

8. A garment comprising, in combination: a main body portion; said main body portion having a vertical slit running downwardly from a predetermined point; manually operable fastening mean for opening and closing said slit, in the nature of a zipper sliding up from the bottom of said slit to close it; a bridging portion above said slit and adjacent its upper end for holding the garment shape when the slit is open; permanent fastening means fastening said bridging portion to said main portion at points spaced horizontally in both directions from said slit; whereby opening said slit liberates foldable corner areas of said main portion, which may be displaced to admit a hand; an inner pocket wall extending down from said bridging portion; and means engaging the periphery of said inner pocket wall to complete the pocket enclosure, except for access through said slit. 7

9. A nether garment comprising, in combination: a main body portion; said main body portion having a vertical slit running downward from a predetermined point; manually operable fastening means for opening and closing said slit, in the nature of a zipper sliding up from the bottom of said slit to close it; a bridging portion above said slit and adjacent its upper end; permanent fastening means fastening said bridging portion to said main portion at points spaced horizontally in both directions from said slit; whereby opening said slit liberates foldable corner areas of said main portion, which may be displaced to admit a hand; and a pocket structure communicating with the opening thus made available.

10. A nether garment comprising, in combination: a main body portion; said main body portion having a vertical slit running downward from a predetermined point; manually operable fastening means for opening and closing said slit, in the nature of a zipper sliding up from the bottom of said slit to close it; a bridging portion above said slit and adjacent its upper end; permanent fastening means fastening said bridging portion to said main portion at points spaced horizontally in both directions from said slit; whereby opening'said slit liberates foldable corner areas of said main portion, which may be displaced to admit a hand; and a pocket structure communicating with the opening thus made available; said pocket structure including two recesses located on opposite sides of said slit and extending down below the level of the lower end of said slit.

HERMAN BUELOW.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 224,959 7 Shrier Feb. 24, 1880 1,753,657 Kaplan Apr. 8, 1930 2,236,694 Oppenheimer Apr. 1, 1941 2,283,362 Hamilton May 19, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 421,901 Great Britain Jan. 2, 1935 

